PrintFood Traditions
My mother in law has been very ill, so I've been very reflective. She wasn't a great cook, but she had a few classics that I know must survive her, so her legacy lives on. I have obtained her recipe box filled with yellowing cards, so I can teach these classics to my family. Do you have family classics that you feel must live on thru the generations?
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13 Comments:
My grandmother's matzoh balls. The recipe she taught me was "a little this, a little that", but somehow it works where other recipes have failed. Every time I make them, I think of her.
Lydia at 9:15AM on 08/06/07
My grandmother's Swedish Lasagna. Three cheers for grandmothers : )
NanaJoie at 9:27AM on 08/06/07
Yea, somehow when I was growing up, my grandmother's recipes were more appreciated than my mother's. But I think that's how it works; for my children, hopefully my mother's recipes will be appreciated.
My grandmother had the absolute best: cholent, matzo ball soup (just like yours Lydia!), and sweet and sour meatballs! She was just a fantastic cook all around. So much so that people from all throughout her synagogue would want to taste some of her cooking; not just the family members!
Hillary
Chew on That at 1:32PM on 08/06/07
My grandmother's creamed onions, as it is the only dish she mastered in her ninety-six years.
BaHa at 1:38PM on 08/06/07
I would definitely have to say my [dearly departed] mother & father in law's homemade cheese ravioli...ohhhhhhhhhh how I love those. I'm planning on teaching my daughter how to make them soon. I use one of those 35 dollar pasta rolling machines... :)
cheffy at 1:45PM on 08/06/07
In my italian american family we cook, we bake, we grow tomatoes.
JerzeeTomato at 3:21PM on 08/06/07
My grandmother, in most respects a terrible cook, made the world's best blintzes. A couple of seasons ago, when one of the competitions on "Top Chef" involved updating a childhood favorite, I spent a few days coming up with spins to put on those blintzes. I came up with some nifty ideas, but the fact is, Nanny's were better.
maggiesara at 4:59PM on 08/06/07
I think it's important that we teach little ones the basics of cooking as well as our recipes. You wouldn't believe how many friends I have who don't know basic cooking techniques (I'm talking really basic here) and would have loved to learn.
As for the recipes that I carry on, my grandfather's beef stew is one of the best.
kmnola at 7:47PM on 08/06/07
Oh, definitely my Mom's apple crisp. She was a pretty good cook while I was growing up, but I was a the kind of kid who wanted Kraft mac & cheese with hamburger in it all the time so she couldn't really flex her cooking muscles all that much. But that apple crisp? So quick and delicious. She didn't even make me wait for weekends to have it.
She married a foodie and has become an amazing, inventive cook. But I still always want that simple apple crisp.
missbhavens at 12:15PM on 08/07/07
My grandmother's spaghetti and meatballs is a very important tradition, and one she taught only to ME and not my mother!
If anyone is interested, I wrote an entry called 'of solace and tin foil' about cooking when a loved one (in this case my grandmother) is ill. Follow the blog link and take a look.
B
Hand to Mouth
handtomouth at 7:27PM on 08/07/07
Well, I feel a little better after reading everyone's comments. Because, even though I have always been a good and reasonably adventurous coo, serving my children curries, chinese, and many many other dishes, it saddens me to tell you that the ONE recipe my childen have asked for is TADA ! Tuna Fish Casserole! (Thank goodness my brother asked for a good curry recipe).
Buslady at 8:38AM on 08/08/07
My mother's couscous recipe.
64sqftkitchen at 1:52PM on 08/08/07
Everything Mom makes, especially her stuffed cabbage, City Chicken, Macaroni & Cheese, and Chicken Soup. My Dad made the best spaghetti sauce - really different than most and the one my sister, brother, and I grew up on. It was his 'special' recipe and would let us in the kitchen when he was making it. He also made a marinade for chicken that he would grill that was also a 'secret.' Dad passed 12 years ago and we are still trying to figure out how he made it. Mom knows the ingredients (since she was the grocery shopper) and we have come close, but not 'right.'
My siblings and I (all in our forties now) decided Mom's recipes will not be forgotten. We get together once a month - rotating homes - and she teaches us how to make the dishes. We have a really good time, laughing, remembering, telling stories, and Mom is on cloud nine the whole time! Afterwards the whole family comes and we feast!
Michigander at 11:29PM on 08/10/07